THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014
PAGE 3B
TRACK AND FIELD
4
AARON GROENE/KANSAN
Runners compete at the Kansas Relays, held in Lawrence on April 16-19 at Rock Chalk Park. This weekend, the Kansas track and field teams will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, for the Drake Relays
Kansas hopes to keep momentum after relays
BEN BURCH
sports@kansan.com
Coming off a successful weekend at the 87th Kansas Relays, where the Jayhawks grabbed 13 event titles, the Kansas track and field teams will now travel to Des Moines, Iowa, this weekend for the 105th Drake Relays. The collegiate portion of the historic event, which will end Saturday, April 26, will feature some of the top programs in the country, which will hopefully bring out the best in the Jayhawks as the Big
12 Outdoor Championships loom just three weeks away.
Junior Michael Stigler proved last weekend that he is currently on top of his game, emerging from the Kansas Relays as the weekend's Most Outstanding Male Performer. Much of the reason Stigler received the honor was for his performance in the 400-meter hurdles, running a 49.35, which is not only the fastest time in the NCAA this season, but is the fifth-fastest time recorded in the world so far in 2014. Following this performance, he went
on to help the men's 4x100-meter relay team capture the win. Stigler, the two-time defending 400-meter hurdle champion in the Big 12, will look to continue his success this weekend, as he is slotted to compete once again in both the 400-meter hurdle and the 4x100-meter relay.
(21'4"), which put her at third in the NCAA rankings, and then taking to the track to help the women's 4x100-meter relay team capture the victory. Conley is expected to be back competing in both events this weekend.
Also looking to keep the ball rolling from last weekend will be sophomore Sydney Conley. Conley was outstanding on both the track and the field last weekend, winning the long jump with a personal best mark of 6.50 meters
Junior Lindsay Vollmer, the defending NCAA outdoor heptathlon champion, will be looking to fine tune some of her multi-event skills over the weekend as she prepares for the conference and national meets. Because Vollmer has already qualified for the Big 12 and NCAA
championships in her main event, the heptathlon, Vollmer will elect to forgo this weekend's heptathlon and instead compete in the 100-meter hurdles. Although the 100-meter hurdles is not technically Vollmer's main event, she will more than likely be in contention this weekend, as she is coming off a 100-meter hurdles title at last weekend's Kansas Relays.
The layhawks relay teams, which dominated last weekend, taking home titles in five of the eight relay events, will also be back in action
this weekend. Expectations will be high, as three of last weekend's title-winning teams are expected to compete in Des Moines.
Action from Drake Stadium began Wednesday, April 23, with the first stages of the decathlon and heptathlon and is expected to conclude on Saturday, April 26, around 4:30 p.m.
Edited by Alec Weaver
SOFTBALL
AMIE JUST/KANSAN
Freshman catcher Harli Ridling hands the ball off to junior pitcher Alicia Pille after Ridling caught a foul ball.
Jayhawks to face Bears in Texas weekend series
AMIE JUST sports@kansan.com
Kansas softball (29-16) heads to No. 14 Baylor (32-12) to play one of its last series of the season. Kansas leads the all-time series 25-22, but Baylor won its last matchup in 2013 5-4. First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Waco, Texas.
Over the season, Baylor is hitting .302 as a team, while Kansas is hitting .300. The Baylord squad has hit 48
doubles, five triples and 46 home runs on the season, chalking up a .469 slugging percentage. Kansas has hit 67 doubles, five triples and 26 home runs with a slugging percentage of .428.
The series between the Bears and the Jayhawks looks to be a pitcher's duel, considering Baylor's pitching staff leads the conference with the lowest
Individually, five of Baylor's starters have higher than a .300 batting average. Kansas tallies the same amount.
If Kansas pulls off a win against the Bears, it will be the second time this season that the Jayhawks have won against a ranked opponent. When Kansas faced Kentucky (then ranked No. 8) on March 23, the Jayhawks defeated the Wildcats 7-5.
ERA at 1.64. Kansas' pitching staff is right behind them with the second lowest ERA in the conference at 2.15.
Edited by Katie Gilbaugh
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